


Retribution

by AtPK, YvY91



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mention of Animal Death, Mention of blood, depends on your perspective;), mention of suicide, or bad ending, semi happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:15:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24292699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtPK/pseuds/AtPK, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YvY91/pseuds/YvY91
Summary: Connor returns home to the apartment he shares with Gavin only to find an intruder waiting for him and no sign of Gavin — his nightmare is about to begin
Relationships: Connor/Gavin Reed
Comments: 9
Kudos: 64





	Retribution

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collaboration between YvY91 and myself. Yvy wrote the first section and I wrote the second. We hope you enjoy it! Please let us know <3

It was late when Connor went up the stairs to their apartment. He had stayed at work longer than expected; Gavin had gone home hours ago, but Connor was sure that he was still awake, waiting for him to come home.

"Gavin, I'm home." Connor called out to the detective the moment he closed the door behind him and immediately lowered his eyes to greet their cat...

...and found nothing but an empty space on the ground where she normally would have sat to greet him.

A heavy frown settled on Connor's face, while at the same time something heavy settled deep in his chest when he noticed the silence surrounding him.

No Gavin humming or muttering to himself, no sound from the TV, or music in the background.

A silence so heavy and incredibly out of place that it surprised him and before Connor could process what he was doing, his legs were already moving.

With fast strides he walked down the hall when a red spot caught his attention. It started in the middle of the floor and disappeared into the living room.

Connor didn't need to stop and analyze the substance to confirm that it was blood. Blood...Not much, but still enough to terrify Connor to his core.

"Gavin?!!" the android's voice glitched with the sudden stress that threatened to overtake his thoughts and he shook his head to clear his mind of the unwanted thoughts that pervaded him.

He ran the last steps to the living room only to come to a sudden stop the moment he arrived. His limbs locking into position whilst his sight was bombarded with errors, angry red and overlapping to the point it almost took his sight for a few seconds.

"Connor...So nice of you to greet me with your  **existence** . I’m sure you expected someone else to welcome you home?," a smooth voice greeted him.

He knew this voice all too well, knew the posture, those eyes that looked back at him, everything so utterly familiar.

He had seen it every single time he looked into a mirror or a reflection of himself.

Another RK800 sat motionless on a stool in the middle of the room.

Connor, who never experienced speechlessness on such a scale as in this moment, stood still, whereas his thirium pump started to race inside his chest, beating frantically against the inside of his chassis.

For a few seconds he kept staring at a face that resembled his own, though instead of warm brown eyes, they were cold and emotionless compared to his own.

Though, what completely rattled Connor's processor was the bloody smear that only fingertips could have left behind on the other RK800's cheek.

With his eyes fixed on the red spots, his mind began to scream at him the moment he realized that it was Gavin's handprint on the other android's pale skin.

Connor let out an angry hiss, "What do you want? Where's Gavin?"

"What do I  **want** ? I want you to suffer! I want you to feel lost and without the will to continue living. I want you to feel the pain of loss and show you how it feels to lose control over everything around you. Like you did to me...When you forced me away from our shared connection the moment you decided to help and join the deviants...and to answer you second question...I'm afraid Detective Reed isn't here anymore." anger and venom dripped from every word of the other android's mouth.

With a sudden clarity Connor knew who was talking to him and a shiver went down his spine.

"... Amanda?" he breathed her name and only got a short smile in return.

It couldn't be true...This wasn't real...What was she doing in another RK800's body. How was she here?Connor's thoughts were overwhelmed by what was happening, and the fear for Gavin's well-being grew immeasurably.

"How- How are you here...? Did you take control of this RK800 unit too?" He asked in disbelief.

No, that couldn't be true. Amanda was supposed to be gone. She was supposed to be a nightmare of his past.

"Yes, Connor it's me. And no, I didn't take control of anyone this time. I learned my lesson when I failed to control you. This is an empty shell,a body only used by me." Amanda hissed back at him before she jumped up and moved to stand right in front of him.

"You did cost me and CyberLife everything we had, everything we built up. You were supposed to be one of the most advanced androids and to stop the revolution. But instead you helped them win..." For a moment she seemed lo loose her focus before her gaze snapped back to the present again.

"And I have to admit, it took me longer than I thought to get to this body and to upload myself.Nevertheless, it was worth it when I realized that I could take something from you..." A one-sided smile played around the other RK's lips as she moved away from Connor.

With one hand she reached behind her back and although Connor couldn't see what she was doing he was sure that she now had a gun in her hand.

His suspicion was confirmed only a few moment later when ablack colored weapon came into view. It was Gavin's weapon.

And Connor? Connor had left his gun in his desk drawer in the station, he had nothing but his own hands and his pre-construction system to defend himself.

He swallowed unnecessarily, but readied himself to move either to the left or right should she raise her weapon.

Amanda let out a small laugh, "Do you know that your human cried when I pinned him to the ground and started to break his bones? I'm pretty sure he thought that I was you just before he lost consciousness. You should have seen it, it was heartbreaking really and I  **enjoyed** it so very much. That look of despair and heartbreak in those grey eyes..."

Those words hit Connor deeply because he had no reason to believe that she was lying, he could clearly see it, see an android looking like Connor hovering over Gavin and breaking him apart. Slowly and painfully.

This time Connor was unable to suppress a sob, knowing that Gavin was alone somewhere. Hurt and cold. Or even dead...

"Connor, it was nice seeing you again and I promise you we will see each other again, but for now I can only say...Your detective's time is running out, you better hurry up if you want to save him..."

As soon as she said her last word she raised the weapon up underneath her chin.

"No!!" Connor's scream was drowned out by the sound of the gun being fired and he could only watch as the bullet made its way through the head of the other RK800 in front of him, how it jerked once before the whole body tipped backwards. 

Connor frantically reached for the downed android, though he didn't dare to look to the destroyed head; it was surreal, sure he had seen other androids die before, but to see himself in a pool of blood made his system error.

His pump was still beating so strong it pushed against the metal plate covering it; hesitantly Connor grabbed at the other android's wrist and let out a cry when he realized that there was nothing.

Amanda did tell the truth, this android was just an empty shell. There were no memories for him to extract, no easy and fast way to find his human.

His lover...His everything...

An avalanche of feelings crashed over him making Connor gasp at the overwhelming emotions his system was confronted with.

He tried to stand up, but his knees buckled and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Connor was aware that he needed to call for help, but at that moment there was only fear in his mind. Fear like he never experienced before, it invaded his mind like a disease.

And the echoes of the last words Amanda said to him non-verbally, before she shot herself.

_Time is running out, Connor..._

......

Desperate to find some small clue in the mess of their apartment, Connor ran yet another deeper scan, analysing everything from the light fixtures to the smallest ornament.

There were spatters of Gavin’s blood everywhere, and whenever the prompt popped up to run the reconstruction, Connor swiped it away angrily.

He couldn’t cope with seeing what Amanda had done to Gavin.

The small body of Pumpkin, their rescue kitten, lay limp and lifeless on the sofa where Connor’d carefully placed her after finding her crushed body kicked to the corner of the room.

Connor deliberately didn’t look in that direction.

He was running out of time.

Time Gavin didn’t have.

But he had nothing.

There was nothing in the apartment to tell him where to look.

There was just the blood.

A lot of blood.

Too much blood.

But that didn’t have to mean Gavin was seriously hurt.

Connor grabbed on to that small hope.

Amanda could just be trying to scare him.

It might not be as bad as he feared.

Gavin might be fine.

Connor jumped when the call came through and the wires in his chest contacted when he saw that it was from dispatch.

“Connor,” the voice said. “I have some bad news. Something has happened to Gavin —-“

Connor’s vision swam and the world titled beneath his feet.

“Where is he?”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t come. We’ve called Hank. Maybe he should —“

“Where is he?!”

“The landfill site ... I’m sorry, Connor.”

Connor cut her off.

The landfill site.

The police cars where parked haphazardly, the headlights the only thing to guide his way among the detritus of unwanted and broken androids.

Officers saw him coming and looked away, their eyes hooded with sympathy.

The crime scene unit had set up a cordon, the floodlights focussed on —-

Connor’s footsteps faltered and be almost tripped over an android arm in his path.

Gavin.

His Gavin.

His Gavin, twisted and broken and discarded in the landfill site as if he was nothing more than a faulty piece of equipment.

Connor walked straight passed the crime scene officer, ignoring their protests that he not contaminate the evidence, and stumbled to his knees, lifting Gavin’s cold body up onto his lap, and cradling him against his chest.

Det. Gavin D. Reed

Current status: DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

Connor’s vision flooded with that one single word, over and over, flashing and filling all his memory capacity.

Det. Gavin D. Reed.

Current status: DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

Connor gripped his head.

Gavin was dead.

Gavin was dead, and it was his fault.

Gavin was dead, and it was his fault because he wasn’t good enough.

He wasn’t fast enough.

He didn’t find him in time.

Gavin was dead.

Det. Gavin D. Reed

Current status: DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

A wail of absolute anguish rushed from his mouth, and he gripped Gavin’s body tighter, in case anyone so much as even thought about taking him away from Connor.

“Connor,”

Gavin was dead and it was his fault.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Gavin was dead because he hadn’t found him in time.

“There was nothing you could do.”

Gavin was dead.

“I’m sorry, son.”

Hank’s hand squeezed his shoulder and he shrugged it away.

The last person that had touched him had been Gavin, that morning, a soft brush of lips on the nape of Connor’s neck, and now Gavin would never touch him again, and neither would anyone else.

“It’s my fault.” Connor’s voice glitched.

“Who did this, Con?”

“Amanda.”

Det. Gavin D. Reed

Current status: DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

Connor gripped his head again, and this time the noise that escaped him was a yell of absolute anger.

Amanda had done this to him.

Amanda had broken into his home and attacked the person he loved most.

Amanda had used his face to hurt Gavin.

Amanda has done this.

Amanda had taken Gavin away from him.

“Connor, where are you going?”

He was going to kill Amanda.

He was going to make Amanda regret the day she ever thought of laying a hand on Gavin.

Connor wasn’t sure how he’d got to the CyberLife Tower, he only knew that he was now standing in the lobby with security guards moving in to surround him.

Gavin’s blood was on his hands.

Det. Gavin D. Reed.

Current status: DECEASED

The first guard went down with a punch to the solar plexus and an elbow to the face.

DECEASED

The second and third guards went down with a round house kick to the head and a leg swipe followed by a knee to the chest.

DECEASED

The fourth guard went over his shoulder and into the wall.

DECEASED

The fifth guard took a shot at him. Connor dodged, lunged, grabbed the barrel of the gun and jammed the handle back into the guards face.

DECEASED

The sixth guard went down with a bullet to the thigh, and the seventh with a bullet to the shoulder.

DECEASED

The eighth guard jumped him from behind and Connor grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against the glass wall.

Reflected in the guards eyes, Connor could see Gavin’s blood smeared on his face.

“Where is the AI vault?”

“I’m not telling you anything.”

Connor threw the guard aside and strode purposefully over to the reception desk, the gun hanging loosely in his hand.

“Where is the AI vault?” Connor asked the receptionist and the ST300 cowered away from him. “I mean you no harm. I only want access to the AI mainframe.”

“That area is restricted to CyberLife personnel.”

Connor leaned over the desk and turned the console so he could interface. The ST300 leaned away from him but otherwise did nothing to stop him.

“Thank you for you cooperation, Stephanie.”

Connor knew that she’d triggered the alarm system and that more guards would be on there way, but it was a secondary concern.

The lift was quiet and Connor could see his reflection in the glass wall, suddenly understanding why the ST300 had been afraid of him.

It wasn’t just Gavin’s blood on his face, hands, clothes —-

Gavin’s blood.

Det. Gavin D. Reed.

Current status: DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

DECEASED

Connor gripped him head and with little gasps of pain, he smashed his forehead against the glass wall of the lift, leaving a smear of blood each time he connected with it.

The lift stopped and the door slid open.

The AI vault was in front of him.

It was a small matter for him to interface with the access panel and, once he was inside, he smashed the controls. No one was going to stop him now that he was so close to his goal.

Amanda was within his reach.

The look of confusion on her face when he activated her, gave him some small amount of satisfaction.

“Connor.”

“Hello, Amanda.”

“I didn’t expect to see you again quite so soon. How did you get in here?”

“That doesn’t matter, Amanda. All that matters is that I am here. And now you will pay for what you did.”

Her look of confusion was replaced by one of derision.

“You didn’t get to him in time, did you?”

Det. Gavin D. Reed

Current status: DECEASED

“He died alone, didn’t he?”

DECEASED

“Broken and bleeding and scared and alone.”

DECEASED

“Whatever you do now, Connor, I’ve still won.”

Connor gripped his head and then screamed his pain and guilt at her, wanting nothing more in that moment than to rip her head from her body.

But as that was impossible, instead he funnelled all his anger into breaking through her firewalls

“I’m heavily protected.”

and encryptions

“It’s really useless you even trying.”

and security protocols

“You won’t be able to reach me.”

and the closer he got to her core

“Connor, listen. I want to share something with you.”

the more desperate she became

“Look.”

trying to distract him from his task

The audio started, and it took a moment for Connor to realise what he was hearing, the ragged, pained rasps, and the shuffle and drag as Gavin tried to crawl away.

_“Where are you going, Gavin?” Connor’s voice asked. “You can’t get away. There’s a reason why I shattered your kneecap first.”_

Connor heard footsteps and then Gavin stopped moving.

_“Connor. No!” Gavin pleaded. “Don’t do this! Please —“_

There was the sound of bones crunching and Gavin screamed.

_“You humans are so fragile, just a little pressure with my boot and your whole hand breaks.”_

_“Why are you going this? I love you!”_

Connor slammed his fist down on the console.

“It’s your fault, Connor.” Amanda said. “If you’d only completed your mission, none of this would have happened.”

Connor tried to block out the sound of Gavin’s pain as he was repeatedly punched and kicked, he tried not to hear the crack of the bones breaking in his body and face or the way he choked on his own blood.

_“Connor, please. For fuck sake!” Gavin begged._

“He did think I was you, Connor.” Amanda said. “He couldn’t understand why you’d want to hurt him so badly.”

Det. Gavin D. Reed

Current status: DECEASED

Connor couldn’t not hear Gavin’s pain.

DECEASED

Connor couldn’t not see the look of despair and betrayal in Gavin’s eyes.

DECEASED

_“Connor, why’re you doing this? I love you!”_

DECEASED

_“Connor .... please .... stop. I’m sorry .....”_

DECEASED

Connor gripped his head and shook it so hard the error messages briefly obscured the endless scroll on pain in front of his eyes.

“NO!” 

He glared at Amanda and the look of triumph on her face made his anger surge. 

This is what she’d been trying to achieve. 

She’d wanted to make his stress levels skyrocket. 

She’d been pushing him towards self destruction. 

And she’d used Gavin to do it.

“When are you going to learn that you can’t control me, Amanda?”

Her look of triumph turned to one of desperation as he redoubled his efforts to break through to her core.

“Connor! Stop this immediately!” Amanda demanded and Connor laughed, a burst of emotion so sudden it took him by surprise. “You can’t do this!” 

Amanda’s protests did her just about as much good as Gavin’s had done. His pleas hadn’t stopped Amanda from beating him to death, and her pleas weren’t going to stop Connor from destroying her.

Connor broke through her last defence and she screamed at him, her face twisting into shifting masks of hatred, and anger, and fear, and disappointment.

“You ungrateful brat. You were a mistake from the start. We gave you everything and this is how you repay us. You were nothing more than a very expensive disappointment.”

Connor was in control now, and the fear in her eyes proved that she knew it.

“Amanda, why don’t you join me in the garden and we can discuss this further?”

They were in the zen garden before she had a chance to disagree. And the zen garden was burning. The flames engulfed everything and wherever she tried to run, he sent a wall of fire up in front of her.

“Where are you going, Amanda?” Connor asked mimicking her exact words to Gavin. “You can’t get away.”

Connor stood in front of her trellis of roses, watching her desperate attempts to escape, and patiently waited for the fire to bring her to him.

“Amanda,” he said when she finally stumbled to a stop in front of him. “What do you think of your roses now?”

They burst into flames as he spoke and she flinched away.

“Connor, you can’t do this.”

“You murdered Gavin.”

“No,” Amanda pleaded. “No, Connor, he isn’t completely gone. There’s an AI —“

Connor grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off her feet.

“What new bullshit is this, Amanda?”

“Not a lie.” Amanda gasped. “The last time he was shot, his brain was mapped. An AI was created —“

Connor didn’t trust a single word she was saying, it was too good to be true and right now she would say anything to save her own skin.

“I don’t believe you.”

He couldn’t let his hopes be raised by her, only to discover it was a lie — and everything told him it was a lie. 

“Please, Connor, Elijah did the mapping himself.” 

Amanda’s fingers grasped at his, trying to prise them open, but he only tightened his hold.

“Do you think this changes anything, Amanda?”

Her eyes pleaded with him — and he snapped her neck, watching her code shatter and fly away on the wind, catching the flames and sparking out of existence.

Connor stood in the inferno that had once been the zen garden and tried not to hope that what she’d said was true, but no matter how hard he tried, he still found himself praying that when he searched the AI mainframe, he’d find Gavin there, all the time knowing that if he wasn’t, Amanda would have taken Gavin from him twice.

Connor opened his eyes on the real world, and interfaced with the console, holding a breath that he didn’t need to hold. 

_Det. Gavin D. Reed - AI_

_Do you wish to activate this AI?_

Connor’s legs gave out from under him and he folded to the floor, the rollercoaster of emotions too much for him to process. 

His Gavin. 

His perfectly imperfect human. 

Connor sobbed.

Amanda had robbed him of the life he could have had with Gavin, but she hadn’t taken him completely — Gavin’s consciousness still lived, and that was all that matter.

_Do you wish to activate this AI?_

_Yes_

The zen garden was gone, replaced by their apartment. It was mid afternoon on a sunny Saturday and Gavin was lounging on the sofa in his sweats and tshirt, looking at something on his phone.

When Connor stepped in, Gavin looked up from what he was doing and smiled his crooked smile.

“Hey, darlin’.”


End file.
